Door latch



Oct. 23, 1923.

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Patented Oct. 23, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RAYMOND G. MOORE, OF BRIDGE-PORT, CONNECTICUT, AS$IGNOR TO THE BASSIGK COMPANY, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

DOOR LATCH.

Application filed April 28, 1922. Serial No. 557,124.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, RAYMOND Cr. Moonn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Bridgeport, county ol F airfield, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Latches, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in door latches and particularly to latches adapted "for use in connection with automobile doors. My invention enables the occupant of an automobile, by means of a simple and effective mechanism, to lock, or to render inoperative, the handle or handles by which a door or doors of the car may be opened from the outside. Thus in a closed car having, for example, four doors, the operator may look the outside handles oi three of the doors so that a person on the outside cannot open the same, the hand levers or other means for retracting the bolts of the door latches from the inside remaining operable. With such an arrangement the one door, the outside handle of which is not thus locked, may be locked by the owner when he leaves the car, by a key operated lock operable from the outside or by any other suitable means. In this case, therefore, the owner has only to lock the one door referred to upon leaving the car in order to prevent unauthorized persons from entering the same, the outside handles oi the other doors having previously been locked against operation, by manipulation of the devices on the An object of the invention is the provision of improved, effective and simple devices oi the character referred to. Another object t e provision 01" an improved construction whereby the inside and outside means for retracting the bolt. usually a hand lever on the inside and a rotatable handle on the outside, will each be firmly maintained in the same angular positions, when the same are not. in use. The hand leveron the inside will pre ferably be firmly maintained in a vertical position when it is not in use and the outside door handle will preferably be maintained in a horizontal position, when it is not in use.

Other objects of the invention comprise the provision of various combinations of parts and details of construction, all as will be more fully set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood attention is hereby directed to the accompanying drawings forming part of this application and illustrating one embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a door latching mechanism embodying the invention, the bolt being shown in its fiorward or operative position;

Fig. 9. is a similar view, on an enlarged scale, the cover plate of the bolt casing being partly broken away, and the bolt being shown as retracted by operation of the outside handle;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to that shown in Fig. 2, with the bolt, however, in its forward position and the member in which the outside handle is inserted locked against. operation, and

Fig. =1 is an enlarged section taken on line :i h of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the construction is illustrated as comprising a plate 1 and a cover plate 2, which constitute a casing within which the bolt 3 is slidably mounted. The cover plate may be secured to plate 1 in any suitable manner, as by the provision of slots at, a, in plate 1 through which flanges of the cover plate may be extended. Plate 1 is illustrated as provided at its forward edge with a flange 5 through an opening in which the nose portion of the bolt slidably extends. V

A spring 6 is shown as having one end of the same secured to plate 1 while the other end bears against the rear end of the bolt which is thus normally spring pressed into or towards its operative position. It will, of course, be understood that plate 1 is intended to be secured to the inner face of a door in such position that the nose of bolt 3 will enter a suitable keeper recess in the door "frame when the door is closed, cover plate 2 being mounted in a recess in the door.

In the construction illustrated the bolt may be retracted against the pressure of spring 6 by means of a hand lever 7 which is illustrated as pivoted at its lower end at 8 to a plate 1. Lever 7 extends through a slot 9 in the bolt and is adapted to bear against a shouldered portion indicated at 10, at the rear of the bolt, when the latter is to 2 new The bolt may be retracted tron. the outside by a handle, which I have deemed a it necessary to illustrate, he handlehaving;-

a squared shank adapted to fit within a squared soclret 12 in the usual manner. The squared opening 152 is formed through the circular web portions 13 ot a member which is rotatably mounted between plate 1 and the downwardly extending: portion 9 ol. cover plate 2. This member shown as having an annular flange i l which may be rotatably mounted at its opposite ends in plate 1 and portion 2 ot the cover plate 2.

This rotatable handle-operated nieniber l2 is provided with a portion or portions which, in the form of construction illus trated, will bear against h and lever 7, when the outside handle is turned, to force the hand lever rearwardly to cause the latter to retract the bolt. In the form of construction shown member 12 is double acting, that is partial rotation in either direction will serve to force hand lever 7 rearwardly against the pressure of spring); 11.

In the preferred construction n'lernbcr 12 is provided with upwardly and downwardly extending projections 15, 16, which have curved operative surfaces 17 and l8 respectively. These surfaces 17 and 18 are con nected by a concavely curved surface 19.

When the outside handle is turned in one direction the surface 17 or" arm to will bear against and. move over the forward surface of hand lever 7 to swing; the same rearwardhn and when the outside handle is turned in the other direction the surface 18 of the lower arm 16 will correspondin engage the forward surface of the hano lerer. In the preferred form of construction a roller 20 is carried by the hand lever. this roller being rotatabl v mounted therein in any desired manner. l Jith this construction the workingfaces ot member 12 will enae'e roller :20, to swine the hand lever and the bolt rearwardl n when the outside handle is turned in one direction or the other. In Fig. 2 the outside handle has been rotted in such a direction as to cause surtace 17 to engage and rotate roller 20. the hand lever and bolt accordingly being: retracted.

When the bolt is in its normal forward position, as shown in Fig. 1 roller 20 of the hand lever will engage within the coucavel curved surface 19 ot the member 12 The and lever will thus be held in a vertical position, spring; 11, (and shoulder 10 of bolt 3)., pressing against the same on one or other (1 the seatin of roller 5! port on 1) or member the outside Le in either diner nst sun handle member tends to rection, the pressure of roller 20 a face 17 or surliu 18 of member I2 will; tend to turn member l2 baclr into its normal position in which roller 2i) seats within the centrally located recess 19.

The construction by which inembcr l2 and the outside handle may be locl-zwl against operation will now be uesr-ibi-d. .l. dog 21 is pivotally nnnin'tcd at o r i on a stud 522 which secured to plate l and e:; tends out-wari'lly, that is, towards the outside oi? the door, tl erelrozn. t'ltud 111: t be provided at its outer end with a head 2t.dagainst which doe; Bl. bears. it spring washer 23 is preiterab oositioacd aoout stud between plate 1 l the inner sur-- too readily about stud 21, in the .form oi constructimi illus trated, is provided, adjacent its opposit end, with an upwardly er; which is adapted to it v' U shaped recess 25 which extends upwardly ironi the lower surface of the (lOliZlltttldllf extending portion 16 of member 12 When new 24: positioned within rm meet her 12 will be locked against rotation in either direction. Equiva int locking sur- 1 may of course be used.

Dog; 21 may be swung into operato -e and inoperative positions by rneaus'ot a suitable hand operated de'ire err ding inwardly from the inner surface of the door. As

tending through and rotatably mounted 'hin a bearing member 7 27 which ll cat d in a suitable opening in plate ill Spindle 26 has a pin 58 extending: out wardlv, that is towards the outside of the door. rroni the outer sin-tare 26 of spinillc This pin is mounted eccentrically with respect to the axis of spindle Boy; ,2" is provided with a slot 29 'tberethrougrh through which pin extends. The end poo tion 26 oi the spindle with pin thereon cmistitute in effect a crank disc with a craul-r pin mounted thereon. In 'q s. l and 2 oi the drawings the pin is shown in its lower dead center position. i 'l hen the pin this position dog 21. will be inoperative. 2-11.- being out of position to into. t the movement of the lower portion of arm 16 of member 12 past the same.

llhen, however, the outside handle is to be locked against operation, the bolt be ing in its forward or operative position and arms 15 and 16 of member 12 extending in their normal vertical position, spindle 5.26 may be turned by means ol? a knurled head 30 thereon. Such rotation of head 30 will swing dog 21 upwardly, in a direction oi' counter-clockwise rotation. referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, and nose 2? will move into recess 25 of member 12 as is shown in l.-ig. 3. Member 12 will now be loci-t d against rotation in either direction.

An eii'ort to rotate member '12 in a counter-clockwise direction, reterring to Fig. 3, will merely result in the transmission of pressure through dog 21 against the stud 22 on which the dog is pivotally mounted. Similarly an attemptto rotate member l2 in the opposite or clockwise direction will simply result in cxertin a pull upon the stud 22, the pressure of arm 16 ot men'iber 12 against nose 2-l having no effect to lo 'tate dog 21 out of locking position. Pin 28 preferably swings from a position slightly in advance of its lower dead center to a position slightly to the rear of its upper dead center position, when knob 30 is rotated as stated to swing the dog into its locking position.

Dog 21 will be held in its locking position, because of the fact that pin 28 is substantially in its upper dead center position and also because of the friction exerted on dog 21 by the spring washer When member 12 is to be unlocked, it is, oi? course, simply necessary to turn. knob 30 back suffi ciently to replace dog 21 in its inoperative position shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The construction may, of course, be. an ranged. to permit knob 80 being turned in either direction to move dog 21 into locking position. In the embodiment shown, knob 30 is arranged to turn in only one direction to operate dog 21, so that a positive stop will be provided for the parts when pin 28 has reached its lower inoperative position and engages against the end of slot 29.

When nose 2% is in locking engagement within recess 25 pressure exerted against the nose by either wall of recess 25, when eilort is made to turn member 12 in either direction, will be exerted substantially in the. direction of pivot 22. or the direction from pivot 22. That is. with such an arrangement, there will be substantially no component of the force exerted against nose which will tend to swing dog 21 about its pivot 22. out of its locking position.

i It will be noted that hand lever T and handle-operated member 12 mutually coact, when in their normal unoperated positions, to maintain each other in desired angular positions. In my application Serial No. 550276, filed April 7, 1922. an arrangement is described and claimed whereby the hand lever is normally held in a desired angular position while in its position of rest, and the handleo eratcd member for retracting the bolt is also normally held in a desired angular position. Any claims which may be generic to the construction there described and to the construction described herein, in connection with this feature, will be made in said application, Serial No. 550276.

It should be understood that while I have described. certain forms and features of the invention with particularity, the invention is not limited to the exact details which have been described, but that various modifications may be employed as will be clear to those skilled in the art after reading this specification, the scope oi the invention be in; indicated by the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a door latch, the combination of a support, a bolt movable thereon, hand operated means, operable from the inner side of the door, for retracting the bolt, hand operated means, operable from the outer side of the door, for moving said first named hand operated means to retract the bolt, and means operable from the inside of the door :lor locking the second named hand operated means against movement while leaving the first named hand operated means operative.

2. In a door latcln-the combination of a support, a bolt movable thereon, a hand lever pivoted to said support and adapted to retract the bolt, hand operated means, rotatable in either direction, for moving said hand lever to retract the bolt, and means for said hand operated means against movement while leaving said hand lever operative.

5%. In a door latch, the combination of a support. a bolt movable hereon, means for retracting the bolt, comprising a handleopcratcd member mounted for rotation in said support, a rotatable member having an eccentric portion, and a member movable by rotation of said eccentric portion into position to lock said handle-operated member in nnopcrated position.

l. in a door latch, the combination ot a support, a bolt movable thereon, means for retracting the bolt, comprising a handleopcrated member mounted for rotation in said support, a member mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis comprising a crank and crank pin, and a member movable by rotation of said pin into substantially its upper dead center position to lock said handle-operated member against movement to retract the bolt.

5. In a door latch, the combination of a support, a bolt movable thereon, means for retracting the bolt, comprising a handleoperated member mounted for rotation in said support, a member carrying a pin mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis, and a pivoted member having a slot 

